Wildcats Basketball Team Toughs Out Win Over Wylie Friday, Plays For Tourney Championship Saturday
The #3 ranked Wildcats Basketball Team just outlasted Wylie winning 46-43 in the Forney ISD Winter Classic Friday (December 13) at Forney when the last three three point shot by Wylie went in but the officials correctly waived it off as it was clearly taken after time expired. Wildcats Basketball Coach Clark Cipoletta called the game a dogfight, and gritty and tough. Points were very hard to come by. The Pirates led after one quarter, 10-7. The Wildcats outscored Wylie, 17-13 in the second quarter to lead 24-23 at halftime. In a good third quarter, the Wildcats outscored the Pirates 17-13 to lead 39-34 after three periods. On several occasions the Wildcats led by as many as 7 points in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats were up 46-40 when Wylie got a three point play the old way with a basket, a foul and a made free throw. The Wildcats led 46-43 with 2:34 left to play. Neither team knew that there would be no more points in this one. The Wildcats went into a delay game. Wylie had only a foul or two so they began fouling on purpose to try and put the Wildcats on the foul line with a seventh team foul. By the time they did this, just 14.6 seconds remained. Lamodrick Johnson missed the front end of a one plus one and Wylie had one last chance. First the Wildcats had two fouls to give without creating foul shots. By the time this took place, Wylie had only 5 seconds to score. By the time the Wylie point guard drew defenders and passed to a teammate for a three point shot, time expired just prior to the final shot being launched. The Wildcats had their hard fought 46-43 victory. Coach Cipoletta said executing the delay is not easy and he added it’s the most stressful thing he has to deal with. He said he also had to add some new inbound plays because of the aggressive Wylie defenders. For the Wildcats Boo Wilkerson had a game high 14 points including two three-point baskets. Wilkerson also got praise from Coach Cipoletta for his defense against the quick Wylie point guard. Cameron Kahn scored 9 points with one made three pointer. Grayson McClure had 8 points with two three-point baskets. Lamodrick Johnson also had 8 points, almost all of them floaters taken in the lane. Day Day Hall had 7 points and was vital against the Wylie press dribbling and catching passes. The Wildcats improved their season record to 11-3. The Wildcats play The Colony, ranked #14 in Class 5A, for the tournament championship Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Forney High School Jackrabbits Gym.
